Baghdad, July 30 -- Influential Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has blamed the "reckless actions" of armed groups and the failure of the Iraqi state to bring weapons under its control for the deaths of Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) fighters and Iraqi security personnel following joint US-Saudi air strikes.
In a statement posted on X, al-Sadr accused militia leaders of prioritizing their own interests while their fighters faced the consequences of escalating tensions. He called for an end to what he described as "individualistic and irrational" actions by armed factions.
"The militias' reckless actions and the failure to restrict weapons to the state have been, and continue to be, the cause of the unjust martyrdom of our fighters," a...